Hot Mess
by M.G.Howe
Summary: "Although he knew she could not see him, her eyes spoke a mile a minute. And, they were telling him to get his ass over there, and beat the living shit out of the man who had battered her gorgeous face." Bulma has been kidnapped, and it is up to Vegeta to be her saviour. Will he get there in time?


**Hot Mess**

Her breath was like fire, burning his skin when it brushed his cheeks. Her hands were like silk, so soft against his rough skin. She, was like a drug, an explosion of euphoria in his veins. Kami, when had he allowed himself to fall so foolishly hard for such a weak and pathetic creature. It was really quite beneath him to spare precious time with someone who could barely open a jar of jam. He didn't even want to get started on her loud abrasive voice, like nails on a chalk board. Well, no, this was a bit of an over-exaggeration. Her voice was only intolerable when she was mad. Which, now that he thought about it, was more often than not. Honestly, was it really his fault the gravity machine was constantly breaking down? If anything, it was the fault of her and that old man she called her father. Maybe, instead of blaming him, they should try making the gravity machine a bit less vulnerable. It was truly an inconvenience for him.

Even so, he couldn't ignore the stupid heat that rushed through his veins whenever those damn perfect eyes of hers caught his own. Or, that horribly intoxicating giggle that slipped past her lips. Heck, even her voice could be a sweet melody; that is, when it wasn't making his ears bleed from all that constant screeching of hers. And, he couldn't forget all those times she accidentally brushed against him when walking by. Which, he began to suspect, was more on purpose than not.

This woman caused him to say, do, and think a lot of things he wished he hadn't. Heck, for once in his life the term 'foot in mouth' had some meaning behind it. His father would have been horrified to learn of all the midnight talks, late night kisses, and soft exchanges he'd shared with her.

He hated the term hot mess it sounded gross and uncomfortable. No one should ever let those two words, in that order, leave their mouths. And yet, the only words he could find to describe what Bulma Briefs did to him, was to say she left him in a hot mess.

He would never actively search out the woman. If she was in the same location he just so happened to be walking toward, he would name it a 'happy coincidence'. Well, happy depending on her mood. He liked to forget about the times she had that crazed look in her eyes as he walked into her lab. A look he was more than positive had once mirrored his own. Beakers, wrenches, even blueprints would be weaponized, as she would hurl them across the room. Most would be lucky to leave her wrath unscathed. And oh, the profanities that left her mouth! They were about the only thing that impressed him during these times. More than once he had taken mental notes of certain phrases she had screeched into a clunky old phone. Of course, this was before its untimely doom of being smashed onto a table top.

Oh, but the other times he would find her. Eyes half lidded, as she lounged back on one of her labs steel tables. A seductive lull to her features. The first few buttons of her blouse unbuttoned. The top of whichever lacy bra she happened to be sporting peaking through. The tip of her tongue dragging sensually across her ruby painted lips; ready to lash out a few barbs at him. Ones she knew would cut him down. Which, lead him to believe she was the only being who did not need physical strength to attack her enemies. Her sharp tongue seemed more than adequate. She would fire off shot after shot. And, he would watch her enemies fall to their knees. Her attempts, however, at taking himself down were always fruitless. Her words never left a scratch. No, they weakly slid over his skin. She quickly learned that he was as sharp as she. And, he would gladly throw back the daggers she hurled his way. Kami, the woman got so mad at him because of this. But, that was how it started, how they started. And, he enjoyed it. He enjoyed how strong willed she was; her feistiness, her fearlessness. It drew him in like an addict. And, he desperately reached for another hit time and time again.

Thoughts of her constantly whirled in his mind. In the aftermath of it all, he had taken to training more than usual. If that was even possible of course. There were only twenty-four hours in a day after all. However, this seemed to be the only way to momentarily cure the woman from his mind. And, he did have other pressing concerns. Like his goal of beating that low class disgrace Kakarot. The plan in itself was almost flawless. Get stronger, while trying his damndest to forget the woman. Yet, even so, this new regimen was not faultless. She still snuck through the cracks of his mind.

So, it really wasn't a surprise when he found himself walking through the all too familiar corridor of Capsule Corp. Taking him straight toward the laboratory which had the name 'Bulma Brief's Office' nailed to its door.

The same bright fluorescent lights beat down on his skin. The same hard flooring announced his every step. He was only quiet when need be. Most times he liked being loud. People should know when someone as great as he was about to bless them with his presence. And, he especially loved making her know when he was near. Not only because she readied for him before he entered the room; such as ruffling her hair, and popping open a few buttons of her blouse. But, also because it was in his best interest. Sneaking up on her had quickly lost its charm when she shot him in the eye with one of her laser guns. Who knew the woman was so jumpy?

His ears perked as he neared the double doors at the end of the hall. Instead of hearing Bulma, the low garbled voice of a male assaulted his ears. He was in the correct building was he not? His eyes did a double take of the white painted hall. The same metal trim separated the floor from the walls. The same annoying buzz constantly hummed from the over heating lights above. These people were rich, were they not? Surely they should be able to afford better lighting fixtures. But, among those things, everything else was as it should be. Maybe, she was having a meeting with someone? Oh, how fun it would be to crash through those two doors and scare the living shit out of whoever she was with.

He waited a breath, thinking it weird he did not hear her speak. Surely the woman could not help but speak up by now? She always had something to say, even if it was the most mundane pointless comment. He was positive she only did this because she liked the sound of her own voice.

"Please, sir, I will pay you whatever you want. You know how much my company is worth. Just name your price and I will give it to you and more." Oh? It was the old man speaking; Bulma's father. Who was he talking to? Should he go into the lab, or wait until he or Bulma emerged from the other side of the door?

He only contemplated the stupid earthly customs of common curtesy for a moment, before curiosity fucking murdered the cat. As he stormed into the room, throwing the double doors separating him from Bulma's lab open with the same grace of a seven year old.

A small, almost humorous yelp, parted the lips of the startled man inside the room. His wide eyes landed on Vegeta, his shaking hand hovered above his heart, as if to keep it from leaving his chest. He noted the man's white hair seemed more frazzled than usual. Very frazzled in fact. Who knew that was even possible! One side of his lab coat was sliding off of his slim shoulder. Sharp chemical fumes wafted from the slim cigarette hanging limply from his quivering lips. Kami, what had the man in such a wreck?

"Vegeta," the man whispered. Voice breaking in a way he had never heard before. Nothing seemed to stir any negative emotions from this usually jovial man. It was almost unsettling to see him so distressed; almost. "My boy, did the gravity machine break down? Just give me a moment and I will come look at it," he spoke, running a quivering hand through his short hair.

"Do not interrupt me," a low voice objected. Had Vegeta been another man, he would have described this unfamiliar voice as intimidating. It was twisted with some sort of foreign accent he had never heard before. Heck, he was almost impressed by it.

"Sorry," Dr. Briefs weakly breathed.

A wave of confusion washed over Vegeta. Besides he and the doctor, there was no one else in the room. He turned toward a large monitor screen which dominated almost an entire wall of Bulma's lab. He had never seen anything other than sappy romance movies played on the thing. So, it was a bit of a shock for him to see it had more than one function. Who knew the thing could also be used for video calls?

"Now, where was I?" Began the man on the other end of the call. A large smirk curled Vegeta's mouth, as he examined the man on screen. He was your average human. He had two eyes and a nose. Some hair as well. But, there was one thing he couldn't seem to look past. This man had a wide face. Or, perhaps the screen was contorting his features a bit further beyond reality. Either way, his face seemed almost comically wide. His nose and eyes were bunched together on the middle of his face. As if they were an after thought. He was like a poorly constructed painting. The artist was halfway through the work before saying; 'shit, I need to add eyes and a nose'. He didn't even want to get started on the wispy strands of brown hair just barely clinging to his scalp.

However, after quick examination, Vegeta decided he had two options. The first, was that he could simply leave the room. These two men were clearly having a conversation, and he couldn't be bothered to ask what about. He did have some manners; he was a prince after all. But, his second option seemed a bit more desirable. It involved finding out where the woman was. Besides, he had come to Bulma's lab with the distinct intention of insulting her hair, which he was more than aware had just gotten done. Watch, as her face turned bright red with anger. Wait patiently for her to sputter back some well thought out insults. And, finally, get his fix of her for the hour; Yes, an hour. He would say longer, but he wasn't a complete animal. There were other things on earth besides sex. He just couldn't think of any when he was with her. And yet, his time was being sourly misused, as she was nowhere in sight.

"Where is Bulma?" he demanded. If either of the two men knew him better they would have heard the horribly weak desperation in his voice. Was it normal for addicts to feel jittery when being denied their drug of choice?

A slimy detached chuckle puttered its way from the lips of the man with the wide face. His eyes scrunching in child-like glee.

"Son, if it's the gravity machine you need help with I can attend to it. Please, just let me finish this call and I'll-" Dr. Briefs began, only to be cut off, as Vegeta lifted his hand in silence. He was fighting a horrible battle with himself. Currently he was in complete denial of the fear scattering through his veins that something had happened to the woman. He would never admit aloud that she had that strong a hold on him.

"Where," he began, the word slipping off his tongue with slow measuredness. "Is Bulma?"

"No need to worry son," the man from the video call taunted. Kami, if this man had any idea who he was dealing with, he would be pissing his pants in fear. But no, he simply smirked. Oh, his death was not going to be quick. "Your precious sister is doing just fine. Your father and I were just making a few deals with one another. He gives me whatever I want. And, in return I don't murder your sister."

Sister? Father? Did he think Dr. Briefs common use of the word son meant they were related by blood? Did this man not know anything about the Briefs family? Or, was he just simply a moron? And besides, what a horrible travesty it would be to be born into such a mentally unstable family.

"He is not my-" Bulma's father began, only to be interrupted by Vegeta once more.

"I'm going to ask once more," Vegeta spoke, voice hard, eyes never leaving the man's on the screen. The one currently unaware of the untimely fate he had just signed. He was finished with whatever games this man was playing. He would either answer him now. Or so help him, he would crawl through the screen, and rip the man's heart from his chest. "Where is Bulma?"

The man's smirk grew. Hm, so he did have an immediate death wish; interesting.

"As I was just telling your father, Vegeta was it? I will gladly tell you of my whereabouts. As soon as I am brought all of the zeni I requested. Along with the blueprints to your families famous capsules of course. I have asked dear Bulma what they are, but she remains stubbornly tight lipped on the matter. Don't you love?"

The man walked toward the camera, reaching out for it, before disappearing completely. The screen blurred, as its display spun in an almost dizzying fashion. Eventually it rest on a simple white wall, no windows. Tied up by thick ropes to a dark wooden chair, was a small blue haired woman. From the corner of his eye he saw the Dr shudder, a sharp breath escaping his lips. And, if he had been a weaker man, he would have done the same. She looked ghastly. Purple, green bruises splotched across her skin in a clustered pattern. Sharp thin stripes of red cuts drew across her battered skin. Patches of dried blood blotted her complexion. Her jaw seemed much larger than usual, sitting at an irregular angle. He'd seen enough injuries in his lifetime to diagnose her; a broken jaw.

Yes, if he was another man he would have shuddered. He on the other hand, was absolutely livid. He felt hot for entirely different reasons than before. Searing acid burned through his veins. His teeth ground together so hard any normal humans jaw would break. It took a moment for him to realize it wasn't just his vision that was shaking. As glass beakers fell from a metal table. Shattering, like his composure. He could feel power surging like a whirlwind in his veins, culminating his pure stark fury. Papers flew from metal table tops. A chair toppled over. In the after math of it all, it was a good thing the woman was messy. His destructive tantrum would not disrupt the laboratories haphazard ecosystem too terribly.

Her eyes lazily moved from the man interrogating her, to he and the doctor. Vegeta noted how her eyes never focused on he or her fathers. They more wandered around the screen, as if in search for them. Which, made him aware their video call was only one way.

Her eyes stopped wandering and unintentionally met his own. Instead of seeing fear and desperation, he saw hot boiling anger. Although he knew she could not see him, her eyes spoke a mile a minute. And, they were telling him to get his ass over there, and beat the living shit out of the man who had battered her gorgeous face. He would willingly set himself on fire, or admit Kakarot was stronger than him, before admitting this out loud. But, in that moment, all he could think, was how badly he wanted the woman safe. Screw his pride, and unwavering certainty that a woman would never weasel her way into his heart. He would ride these wussy feelings to the end. This woman unlocked some dormant emotion he never knew existed. And, he'd be damned if some wide faced fuck tried to take that away from him.

"Fine," he answered sharply, patience miles passed being tested. "I will bring you everything you need, and more, in the next five minutes. Give me your location," he growled, Bulma's ki too weak to pinpoint.

"You're funny," the weasel of a man snickered. "I am more than three hours from your location. I'll give you until four to bring everything. Oh, and no police. I see any sign of the authorities and she's dead." The fact this man thought her life rest in his hands was grating. How sad the wide faced fool would be when he learned how turned the tables were.

"Five minutes," Vegeta glared, as he received the coordinates for the man's location.

* * *

He was almost true to his word. If not for the fact Dr. Briefs was fumbling around, actually trying to gather the money and blueprints. He would have been five minutes. The flight itself only took him a couple of minutes. He had found an empty suitcase as a prop. Growling at the inconvenience of having to rummage through the Brief's large clustered closets to find one. Honestly, the people had servants. Why didn't they get them to clean all of their cluttered closets? If not for their more than intoxicating daughter, he would have blown up the place for being such a mess. The people were chronic hoarders.

The only other thing he had been mindful to bring was a senzu bean. It was his last of a bunch Bulma had given him after the first time he destroyed the gravity machine. She had spouted something about not wanting to pay for his medical bills again. Which gave him a really good laugh. Did things like money really matter when you had so much of it? The answer to that was a no. She could lie all she wanted about her monetary reasonings. But, he would always see right through them. After all, he was not a daft man. He had seen the worry in her eyes. For some reason she did not want him mortally injured again. And he'd be damned if he didn't use that knowledge against her.

He slung the empty suitcase over his shoulder, after insuring the senzu bean was safely kept in his pocket. He felt like your everyday business man. The ones that casually inhabited Capsule Corp. Coming and leaving after long or short meetings with the Dr and his daughter. Really, all he needed now was an expensive suit. A black tie to casually sling over his shoulder. And he'd be set. Too bad he had settled for a grey pair of sweats and a black t-shirt. Sometimes you needed to dress casual when in the throes of committing homicide. Not every moment entailed black tie, think more genocide for that.

Alas, he had navigated away from his murderous ways. And, he was unsure if that was a good or bad thing. Murder was all he had known for a good portion of his life. How weird it was to go from being praised for slaughter and destruction, to being chastised for beating up a teenage kid. And, really, it had been the kid and Bulma's fault. If she had not forced him to join her to some black tie event. The threat of never using the gravity machine again, hovering in the air. The annoying little shit would never have gotten his nose broken. And honestly, the kid was lucky for getting away so easily. No one made fun of Vegeta's hair and got away with it.

And yet, after all of that, here he stood. Ready to rescue that damned woman.

His shoes crunched against shards of gravel blanketing the small path which lead toward a beige warehouse. The hot sun shone against its few windows in a blinding reflection. A hot breeze swirled through his hair, gently ruffling his loose clothing.

It did not miss his attention that the building was in an abandoned field. Flat land stretching for miles. No cars or highway in sight. Was this an intimidation tactic perhaps? The building itself was in quite poor condition. Its cement walls had numerous chunks and nicks missing from the corners. Bullet wounds also marking the exterior. Most of the windows it possessed were broken, shards of glass still lay in the dirt.

Two very large men stood in front of the door of this building. They were preoccupied in some sort of conversations, which made him aware they had not just witnessed him fly in. They looked like some sort of shitty lawn ornaments. If he had to guess they stood around six feet. Which, was not very intimidating, as their power levels were almost non-existent. One was bald with dark sunglasses covering his eyes and a heavy frown pulling down the corners of his lips. His partner was much the same, only he had hair. It was shit hair, but at least he had some.

The thought of acting intimidated by these two rolled around in Vegeta's head for a moment. Let them think they had the advantage. Oh, what a pleasure it would be to watch the colour drain from their faces as he broke their necks. It had been a while since he had been allowed the gratification of murder. And, what fun it would be to play around with his victims minds. But, he wondered whilst examining the two. Who would be more fun to murder first? And, whose reaction would be more fun to watch at said action?

He was well aware of how sadistic, and, quite frankly, fucked in the head he was. He could simply kill the two men, then Bulma's captor. Snatch her up, and go. But, what fun was there in that?

This was too exciting. He reminded himself to take slower more measured steps as he grew closer to the men. And, to try his best not to whistle out of his pure joy. The glorious prospect of murder always put a joyous spring into his step. The two finally noticed him sauntering toward them and they stood to attention.

Examining the two men, he had already picked out who the leader was of the two; the bald one. And, props to baldy too for being the boss. Especially seeing how his power level was pitifully lower than his counter part. His assumption had grown from the reaction of baldies shitty haired partner. While baldy only puffed out his chest, putting on the act of intimidation. Shitty hair cocked his gun, ready to act on baldies command.

"Stop. Who are you, and what business do you have here?" Baldy spat, motioning for shitty hair to aim his gun at Vegeta's head. This must have been their intimidation tactic; cute.

"You have something of mine," Vegeta simply answered. He would keep it on the down low that he just announced the woman as an object. What a scrawny weak woman would do to him was far more frightening than anything these two ogres could achieve.

He looked between the two men for a moment, before drawing his eyes to the ground. He had noticed this was how that loser Yamcha acted whenever talking to him. Which of course was very rare for him to do. He never like communicating more than need be with that loser. He only got joy from the fact he was sleeping with the duds ex, and he was none the wiser about it.

Nonetheless, it went against his genetic makeup, as well as his pride, to act intimidated. But, he had to think of the bigger picture here. He didn't just want murder today. He wanted phycological warfare.

"And what would that be?" Baldy asked.

Were they dumb, or just trying to test his patience as their boss had? How many hostages did they have in there? Enough to loose track of? Were there other people who came to this place on a daily basis? Were they running another business in there? Hm, interesting, now he wanted to go inside just to see what kind of operation they were running.

However, not wanting to verbally communicate more than need be with the two, he simply lifted the brief case in his hands. It had a black leather exterior with diamonds lining the handles and buckles. Embroidered with golden thread on the face of the briefcase was the Capsule Corp logo.

Confusion crossed the two mens faces. Their bodies tensing as they eyed him down. Vegeta simply slung the brief case back over his shoulder. Looking up at the two with the best innocence he could muster; he was by no means a saint.

"The boss said you weren't coming for another three hours."

"Yeah, he was out here telling us. There's no way you could have gotten here in ten minutes," the bald one finished.

"Seven minutes," he corrected. He knew he was a bit longer than his five minute quota. But, to say ten minutes, was grossly over-exaggerated.

The two burly men shared an awkward glance. The bald one bringing a black glove clad hand to the back of his thick neck. Honestly, these two were taking all of the fun out of it. He had wanted to act timid so that he could see the shock and horror cross their faces when he broke their necks. But this was a bit ridiculous. They were way past testing his patience.

"Well, the boss is a bit busy right now. Come back in a few hours."

There were two way to piss off Vegeta in a way that would sign your immediate death. One, of course, was to say Kakarot was stronger than he. The second, was to brush him off. When he wanted something, you damn well better give it to him. There were never any exceptions to these rules. No, that was a lie. There was only one exception to these rules. One person who could callously flaunt these rules in his face and live to tell the tale. Her name was Bulma Briefs.

A sharp sigh left his lips. It seemed the two were quite set on this. Oh well, it was their death wish. The time for pleasantries were over he supposed.

A smirk covered his mouth as his hand shot out for the bald mans neck. He seized his fingers over the man's throat in a vice like grip. The man would have to rip the flesh from his neck to escape his grasp. Immediately the man began to claw at Vegeta's hands, thinking the pain of it would cause Vegeta to release him. This was only a mistake on baldies part, as Vegeta tightened his grip. It was funny how this always effectively ended his victims struggles.

Shitty hair lifted his large machine gun. His index finger hovering over the trigger. Aiming for Vegeta's head. "Let him go," the man growled. Did he honestly think this toy like weapon would stop him? Oh, this was funny. A bark like laugh escaped his lips. These humans were so entertaining to him at times.

Vegeta reached for the barrel of the weapon, using only his thumb to twist its exterior upwards. It groaned loudly before snapping off completely with a sharp crack. Horrified the man pulled the trigger. The bullet still shot from the mouth of the gun directly into Vegeta's hand. A victorious grin spread across the poorly haired mans face. It almost made Vegeta pity the man for thinking he had injured him.

"See here," he stuttered. "I told you the boss is busy, so if you don't mind coming back…" the man slowly trailed off as he watched Vegeta examine the small bullet in his hand. It was really quite an interesting thing to him; a bullet. Who knew humans were so weak that this small hunk of metal was able to kill them.

"How cute," he chuckled, positioning the bullet against his index finger and thumb. "And here I was going to let you live a few minutes longer than your friend," he chuckled, slightly lifting the choking man in his grasp. His face had turned a bright purple, like the sunsets of this earth. He wondered if he held him much longer if his skin would start turning all the colours of the sky? If he had more time he would have gladly tested it out.

"How?" the man with hair spat, sunglasses slipping from his thin nose to reveal his wide eyes. Was he shaking? Perfect, it had been some time since he had seen a man quake with fear in his presence. With the flick of his thumb the bullet shot directly between the man's eyes. Damn he had good aim. A volcano of blood shot out from the small wound, as the man flew back toward the dirt landing with a hard thud.

"Should have listened to me," he spoke, bringing the choking man to his eye level. "I was going to spare one of you and let you lead me to your boss. But, I'm quite tired of these pleasantries. I'll let you die with the knowledge that your death was quick and painless." By this point he was doing the man a favour when he snapped his neck. The man collapsed to the ground with a thud. Small wisps of dirt curled into the air before being carried off with the soft breeze.

Killing; it was a sick sort of therapy for him. Oh, how he missed the euphoria of feeling his enemies bones crush beneath his powerful grasp. He felt unstoppable, all powerful, he felt amazing. For more than half of his life he had been positive nothing would be able to compete with this climax of euphoria. Of course he was proven terribly wrong when he met Bulma.

She was his newest challenge, not including Kakarot of course. But, she was a different sort of challenge than that aforementioned buffoon. She wasn't fighting, and training, and getting stronger. She was a different beast entirely. One he had no idea how to train for. Oh, and how he'd like to train her into submission. Or, did he? No, he didn't want that. He loved how wild and unruly she could be. That unpredictable nature of hers was a great jigsaw puzzle. A puzzle he loved attempting to figure out.

It was truly going to be a thrill to destroy the man who currently held her hostage.

The large steel door before him had a silver door knob. Bits of rust and years of use appeared to have made it dull. At first try the door was locked, as a gentle twist did not move the knob. This of course was a minor casualty. Barely tightening his grip, he twisted the knob. A loud crack whined from inside the door as the handle gave in to his grip.

The room he entered was dark but for the bits of sunlight peaking through the slits of the tattered blinds covering the windows. The heady scent of drywall filled the still air. His eyes were still adjusting from the bright sun to pitch black. He could barely make out the walls around him, let alone get a baring of his surroundings.

So it was a bit of a shock to him when he sensed the tiniest power level close in on him from behind.

"One more step and I'll incinerate you," he growled. Learning to sense power levels was the second greatest thing in the world. He was leaving the first spot open for killing Kakarot. And oh, what a thrill that was going to be. He had a speech planned out and everything.

"Yeah, yeah tough guy. All bark and no bite."

"No bite you say? Why don't you take a gander outside? Then you can see what my bite is like." Wait this was Bulma he was talking to. The Bulma who was supposed to be tied up. The one who was taken hostage.

"How the shit are you here?" he growled. Turning toward the embarrassingly weak power level. Honestly, she could at least try working out a little bit. Maybe try lifting a few weights. How did she ever get through a day without dying?

"Well, when two people love each other very much, sometimes they decide to have children. My parents were no exception to this rule, and I popped out into the world," she finished. Sometimes, on the very rare occasion, he found her sarcasm to be enticing, almost humorous in fact. And, at the odd time, a damn quick turn on. This however, was not one of those times.

"You know damn well what I meant. Where is that wide faced fuck?" He growled, doing a quick scan of the room. Oh right, it was pitch black and he could see shit all. Damn this dark room. And damn that door for not staying open to let light pool in when he entered the room.

Lifting his hand he felt a hot familiar wave of energy shoot through his arm to his opened palm. A bright flash lit the room, as a ball of energy jumped from his palm, before colliding with one of the walls. A large hole yawned open from the collision. Dust and drywall rained towards the ground in a shattered rush. And, finally, he was able to see. Sunlight poured in from his do it yourself window.

Perhaps, however, darkness would have been the more desirable option. As he glared her down before him. Her short hair was ruffled in the wild sort of way it would be after sex. Her blouse was dotted with bits of blood. Her black skirt was matted with dirt and grime. He let out a sigh of relief however, at the fact the black see through leg things she wore under her skirt were unscathed. She had told him what they were called on many occasions. That of course didn't mean he would remember, or was even listening in the first place. It never helped that he only wondered what they were called as he was stripping them off of her. But, the fact they were not tattered let him know her captors had not gone _that_ far when attacking her.

"Him? Good question," she began, staring pointedly at Vegeta's handy work of the wall. "Probably running away from some horrifying monsters, if I had to guess," she shrugged. He glared at her. What did that even mean? Currently he had more questions than were being answered. "Yeah, disabling that guy was easy. It only took me about the ten minutes it took you to get here."

"Seven minutes," he sharply corrected.

"It was his fault for getting cocky. He untied me. Something about wanting to have some fun with me first. And, let me say, he was totally not my type. I am well aware that I am the most desirable woman in the universe, but I have some standards. Anyway, after that he was planning on holding a knife to my throat for when you got here. He thought it would be fun to have me in a threatening position for you to see. I was almost going to let him do that. The knife bit, not the first part. Just so I could watch his face when you got here and ripped him apart. But, I decided against it. I have some pride you know."

"Oh I know," he sniped. She ignored him.

"And I was tired of being his hostage."

"So you murdered him yourself?" She was pretty damn attractive as it was. But, kami have mercy on him if she ended that mans life on her own.

"Murder? No, I have some morals." He had to bite back the enormous disappointment from those few words. "I have this trans-nuclear migration gun I created when I was thirteen. It started out as just a little design I had doodled up when I was a kid. It collects energy from the earths atmosphere then directs that to the object it is aimed at. From there it transports whatever you want to wherever you want. Its main purpose was to shoot the cockroaches that snuck into my room. One zap, and those little bastards would find themselves in the middle of the ocean. But, now I like to keep it in a capsule with me at all times. You know, to use for protection incase someone gets a little homicidal," she paused, eyes never leaving his. Well, at least she was prepared. It almost made him feel bad that he was going to have to destroy this weapon of hers.

"Anyway, in this instance it was convenient that I always carry it on me."

"Convenient," he muttered.

"One shot from that, and I was able to send him to the fourth quadrant of the universe. All I had to do was type in the coordinates and bam, see you later." The woman was absolutely beaming at her success. And, he wasn't sure if he should be furious or proud. "I had a senzu bean on hand too, which was great. I had actually just gotten a batch from Korin. I knew you only had the one left from the few I had given you before. And well, you being you, I knew you would need it," she paused, giving him that damn enticing smile of hers.

"How did you chew it with a broken jaw?" He had so many more pressing questions. He didn't know why this was the first to jump from his mouth.

"I smashed it up with my palm, then swallowed it whole," she shrugged. Without another word she turned toward the crater in the wall. As if her small explanation excused everything that had just happened.

"Come here," he growled. Honestly, what a waste of time. This hero business was not what it was cracked up to be. Even if he got to murder two guys. He didn't even get a thank-you. If anything he should tie her back up. Actually, that wasn't a half bad idea. Tie the woman up, and make her beg for mercy. Oh, the fun that would be. Hero was an overrated title anyway. He knew he was more suited to the villain role.

She slightly turned her head. Catching a glimpse of him from the corner of her eye. Damn her and those mesmerizing eyes. And, also damn her for making him think things like that.

"I said come here-"

"You know I would have been perfectly capable of freeing myself when given the chance? I mean, the broken jaw and bruises were an inconvenience, but I could have handled myself."

"Then why bother waiting for me to come get you?" He raised pointedly, crossing his arms over his chest. While trying to decide if the action was to keep himself from embracing her like a lovesick moron. Or, to keep himself from strangling her.

"I have a meeting in a half hour, and needed a quick ride home," she shrugged. So, it was the latter of his arm crossing reasonings.

"I should leave you here to rot you know. And I think I will. I shouldn't have bothered coming, what a waste of my time." What an ungrateful woman, she should be bowing to him. Better yet, creating great monuments of him in respect.

Muttering how ungrateful the human race was, he began toward the crater in the wall. Passing her without a single glance. Honestly, why he wasted his time with her was a mystery he was never going to solve. Just as he reached the crater in the wall she gently cleared her throat. And, he paused, turning toward her.

She walked up to him. Stoping when her abdomen barely brushed against his own. "But you did come," her voice grew soft. Oh, how he hated that soft tone of hers. His hate did not stem from it being an annoying, or demeaning tone. No, it was quite the opposite. And, he hated that. Because, it was that soft tone of hers that made him realize she was more than just someone to have sex with. They would talk for hours on end when he stayed with her after sex. About everything, and at times, about nothing at all. Sometimes, he regretted how vulnerable he let himself become in front of her. All those times telling her of his greatest regrets, his past failures. And, she would quietly listen. All of her sarcasm and bitting words gone. He would be lying if he told anyone this woman had never comforted him before.

"Yeah, a mistake on my part," he muttered, kicking his foot across the pebbled concrete ground. Sending shards of concrete and rocks scattering.

"But, I'm glad you did come," she continued, ignoring his comment. He looked away from her. "No, I really mean that. I know you are busy training. You're training so you can help save the world. A world that you could probably care less about."

"Whatever," he grumbled. And, suddenly, the cracked concrete floor became more interesting than her captivating eyes.

"It's not everyday someone as smart as myself gets kidnapped, you know." What could she possibly have to gloat about now? Yeah, so what if she was perfect? Brains and beauty. Maybe she just enjoyed squirting lemon juice into the wounds of his battered pride. Because, in what world did he, Vegeta, waste his precious time saving a woman. It went completely against his genetic makeup. "I have unlimited weaponry and resources to keep myself safe."

"Yeah I know, you didn't need my help," he grumbled. If she wanted him to murder her now, she was doing a damn good job at provoking him. Too bad for him, in her case, he was always all bark and no bite.

"No, Vegeta, what I'm trying to say is that I needed to get kidnapped by that man. You know how when you first came to earth? There were news crews all over. Filming you and that bald guy you were with? Well, this morning I got this email containing that footage. I thought it had all been destroyed. I tried scanning the email and the address to find out where the message had been sent from. Or, at least who had sent it. But I couldn't find any leads. So, I told him I'd meet up with him. You know, give him what he wanted. I was fully expecting him to take me back to his base when I did not have what he wanted. It was apart of my plan. I was going to attack him once we got to this base. Find the email along with anything related to it and wipe it from existence. I wasn't expecting the bastards goons to knock me out and break my jaw," she muttered. If Vegeta was going to be glad about one outcome from this day, it was that he had killed those two. "Anyhow, after I saw that video, there was another attachment which showed a picture of you and I together. I couldn't let those two things be leaked together. You know? It would be bad for our image to let the world know Capsule Corp was harbouring a homicidal alien." She looked to the ground. As if expecting something to happen.

"So what if it showed the two of us together? Even if it was at Capsule Corp it is not as if you don't run into hundreds of different people there everyday. I could have simply been a stranger you had never met, nor recognized." Honestly, these humans and their weak ass excuses.

"No, it didn't." She paused. Did her cheeks just turn pink? He wondered. Since when did Bulma Briefs get embarrassed about anything, ever? "It didn't show us talking"

"So what?" What else could they have been caught doing? Holding hands? No, that never happened. If there was one thing in his entire existence that he was sure of. It was that he would never be one of those horrible types of low lives who held hands. He would say the same about hugging, but that would be a lie. He would admit Kakarot was stronger then he before admitting this aloud. But, he liked the way her boobs pressed against his chest when they hugged. Even better if they were both topless. Kissing or sex, were the only two other things that came to mind. And currently that made up about Ninety-five percent of their interactions. But, there was no way they could have been caught doing that?

"It was a picture of me giving you a blow job," she fired off. And if he had not been paying close enough attention, he would have missed the entire sentence.

"Oh," he answered. Well, shit, he was wrong.

"He told me if I didn't give him four million Zeni, and the blueprints to our capsules, he would take the photos to the cops and make our relationship viral. I'm not saying that I do not want people to know about you and I. But, I for sure do not want our relationship made public with a picture of me sucking on your dick. Anyway, he gave me a bit of lee-way when I did not immediately comply with him. When he brought me back here, he told me he would try to get the Zeni and prints from my father first. But, if he did not agree, then he would send the footage. My father was about to give it all up before you barged in."

"Hold on, you did all of this for some shitty videos and a picture?" At the moment he did not want to know if the old man had seen the obscene photo of he and Bulma. If that was the case, then he would check off never being able to look the old man in the eye again from his list. "I'm sure you guys could have paid the cops off to keep them quiet. Or, you could have just collected the Dragon balls, and wished for everyone to forget about the videos and picture. Never mind paying anyone anything."

"That's not the point," she growled. "No one threatens me, or the ones I love, and gets away with it. I wasn't about to let him get away with threatening you." He was going to ignore the childish glee that jumped inside of him at the fact she just low-key admitted she loved him.

"He was never a threat to me," he snorted. For being a self proclaimed genius, she sure liked to forget about the fact he was pretty much a paid assassin for over half his life. A pretty horribly underpaid assassin. But, that was beside the point. "You could have just told me about it, and I would have come and finished him off. For a genius you can be quite inept can't you?"

"You're so frustrating! I did it because I wanted to show you that I appreciate you more than just someone to have sex with! I wanted to look out for you the way you're looking out for earth!" She was going to have to stop admitting embarrassing nonsense like that. For his sake, and her own. He was coming dangerously close to falling in love with her.

"That was dumb, I'm not looking out for earth. I'm simply just biding my time so I can finally defeat Kakarot. You are simply a convenient coincidence." If he was going to start pushing her away he was going to have to start now.

"Well, you got here pretty quickly for a convenient coincidence." Damn her for seeing right through him. Sure the first half of his sentence had been true. But, to say she was only a convenient coincidence was a gross understatement.

"The gravity machine needed repairing," he lied. Well, sort of lied. It would probably eventually need fixing.

"My father was there for that. They are his original designs, so in a way, he is more qualified to fix it than I. And, you don't have the excuse of not being able to find him. You knew damn well where he was. Also, if you say it was just for the sex, there are more than enough willing women who could take care of that need for you."

He stayed silent. And she smirked. Damn her.

"Thank you," she finally whispered. Wrapping her arms around his neck. "It was my way of saying thank you. Thank you, no matter your motive, for sticking around to defend the earth. Thank you for that time I broke up with Yamcha, and you held me in your arms all night."

"Is that never talking about it again?" he barked. Oh, he really hoped his cheeks were not as red as they felt. That was a one time thing, and he repeatedly told himself he did it to get into her pants. Not because he liked the fact he was able to comfort her.

"Still, thank you," she giggled. The scent of her citrus perfume was still strong enough to make his nose wrinkle.

"Well it was a damn stupid way of-"

"Just, shut up for a sec," she mumbled. He did. Not because he wanted to be obedient. But, because she pressed those damn delicious lips against his. And, fuck if he would ever turn that invitation down. Kami, he loved this woman. He knew he would end worlds for her.


End file.
